What now for 'the greatest moral challenge of our time'?

Climate policy has been a difficult and damaging issue for both Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd. Professor Peter Christoff from Melbourne University shared his analysis of what's next in the Rudd vs Abbott carbon battle. He says the Prime Minister 'will pedal very hard to bring it to the fore' and that Tony Abbott may find himself in a difficult, and potentially isolated, position.

Peter Christoff is Associate Professor of Climate and Environmental Policy at the University of Melbourne.

Speaking with 774's Sally Warhaft he says Kevin Rudd will now 'put out a new narrative' on climate policy and will try to 'wedge' Tony Abbott in an isolated position both nationally and internationally.

The moral issue of our time

Professor Christoff believes the Prime Minister will again emphasise climate policy as a moral challenge.

"He'll defend the issue - he'll go back to the science."

He says he expects the Prime Minister's policy to be linked to global carbon trading, and that we'll then see a big price drop from Australia's current $23 price per tonne towards Europe's $6.50.

Professor Christoff says Kevin Rudd will be able to reframe the debate coming in the week after Barack Obama's high-profile climate speech.

"I think that he'll use that as the core moment to reframe the carbon tax as a transition to a much bigger and importantly integrated scheme for dealing with climate policy."

Support for Labor's institutions

Professor Christoff says he expects Kevin Rudd will use this approach to defend a range of institutions put in place by Labor, including the Clean Energy Fund and Climate Change Authority, both of which Professor Christoff believes are 'very sophisticated and measured ways' of dealing with climate policy.

"Even Howard in the dying days of the Howard government had agreed that an emissions trading scheme was probably the right way to go," he says.